PDC Link Up With RTL7

PROFESSIONAL DARTS CORPORATION tournaments will be screened in Holland from next January through RTL 7.

The PDC and RTL7 have agreed a contract until 2013 for the Dutch broadcaster to screen PDC events exclusively in the Netherlands from 2011 onwards.

Alongside live coverage of tournaments such as Premier League Darts, the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and World Matchplay, plans are also being made for a new televised event to be hosted in Holland next year.

"The PDC is delighted to work with RTL 7 in establishing the station as the number one free-to-air darts television company," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

"RTL 7 have made a massive commitment to the sport in general and the opportunities that exist for Dutch dart players in particular.

"The new event we are planning will really cause a stir in the Dutch market-place and we welcome this association, and look forward to a hugely successful co-operation in bringing darts fans in Holland the very best sporting action."

Peter Lubbers, the Programming Director for RTL 7, said: "Darts suits RTL 7 and our audience very well.

"We feel we can give darts a big stage again and we are going to make a big effort to do that."

The news of the television deal with RTL 7 closely follows the Netherlands' success in winning the Cash Converters World Cup of Darts recently, a victory which saw Raymond van Barneveld and Co Stompe sent telegrams by Queen Beatrix to congratulate them.

There will also be six Dutch players competing in the forthcoming Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, with van Barneveld and Stompe accompanied by Vincent van der Voort, Jelle Klaasen, Michael van Gerwen and Roland Scholten.